


written in the stars

by michiko (afire)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Fluff, farm au, i do not know, lets play a game called how many taylor swift refs can i include in one story, one of those childhood to teenagers things, probably, what even is this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-04-01 08:45:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4013221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afire/pseuds/michiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The paths of two unlikely souls cross time and again.</p><p>(or: Percy lives on a farm and Annabeth moved to the city)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. stakes are high, the water's rough

They're 7 years old and it’s the first day of a new school year. Percy is carrying a bright blue backpack, complete with an ocean themed lunch box filled with blue chocolate chip cookies. His mother had driven him up the hill to school, but Percy knew that once he grew up he would be making the walk himself. At least he has Annabeth beside him, she's making sure everything in her backpack is neat and orderly. Percy's backpack was haphazardly packed that morning, and he's sure that he forgot to bring a pencil.

Ms Smith seems like a nice teacher, she smiles at him during lunch when he trips on his shoelaces before helping him up and dusting him off. Annabeth is standing beside him, trying very hard not to laugh but failing, miserably. He stands up and frowns at her, and that's all it takes for her to burst into giggles. Percy can't help but smile back, thinking that his best friend is actually pretty cute, if you squint.  
After school Annabeth stops by his house for cookies, like she's been doing for the past three years. Percy's mother owns a farm, and his place is more rustic than most of the houses around, especially Annabeth's, but she's never minded. Her father is doing research on genetics regarding farm animals and that's why she's living here. Annabeth can't say she minds that much, if she has Percy to keep her company.

Sally Jackson makes the best chocolate chip cookies, she's sure of that. They melt in your mouth and taste best when you dunk them in a glass of milk before eating them. Percy was the one that started asking for coloured cookies, and now they eat them in rainbow order, from red to purple.

* * *

 

Annabeth usually does her homework at Percy's, asking Sally for help should she need it. Her father stays in his study until dinner time, and sometimes even longer than that. On those days Annabeth eats dinner at Percy's, her father doesn't mind, and Sally loves spending more time with the girl that's like a daughter to her.

This time however, Fredrick Chase joins his daughter for dinner with the Jacksons. Annabeth thinks that he finally wants to spend some time with his daughter and her best friend, and makes the extra effort to sit beside him and involve him in their dinnertime conversation. Her father smiles and laughs more that night than she's seen him do so in the past month, and Annabeth thinks that things are finally looking up.

After dinner they move into the TV room for a movie, but before Percy can press play on the button her father clears his throat, which is the universal dad signal for ' I am about to say something important ', so she taps Percy on the shoulder, smiling briefly at him as he turns around.

" My research here has been going great, and there are more organizations willing to sponsor my work. One of them has agreed to pay for the next 10 years of research.", he says. Annabeth doesn’t know why he looks so subdued, it sounds like great news to her. "The organization is in New York and I'll have to move there to take the deal.", he continues, and she finally understands.

Her father will definitely take the job, getting research sponsored for a decade is a one-time deal he can't afford to pass up. That means they'll be moving to New York. New York City, probably thousands of miles away from this quaint little farm by the side of the hill. The idea of it is just as exhilarating as it is terrifying.

Ever since she knew what wishes were, she'd made a pact with Percy. Every single wish they made went toward one day being able to live in New York together. They had spent days lying in the middle of the field beside Percy's house and talking about how their apartment would look like, what kind of jobs they would have, and even what they would eat. Now that she was going to New York, and without Percy, she couldn't help but feel that her dreams were being fulfilled and crushed at the same time.

* * *

  
On the day she's leaving, Percy cries. He cries and cries and hugs her so tightly because he doesn’t ever want her to leave. He wants to go with her, he begs his mother to let him go, but Sally says that they can't leave the farm, and Percy can't go on his own. Can't, can't, can't. Percy is sick and tired of not being able to do things, he wants to go with Annabeth, he wants to see New York with her.

Mr Chase is packing everything up into the car, the moving trucks coming later that week to get everything else. Annabeth is standing on his doorstep, hugging him tightly and whispering in his ear that they'll never stop being best friends. They're going to keep in touch, she's never forgetting Percy Jackson.

Percy cries some more, wishing with all his tiny little heart that he could go with Annabeth, but he can't, so he hugs her one last time, as tightly as he can. When he lets go he leans forward to kiss her on the cheek, blushing as he does so, but covering it up as he lifts a hand to wipe off his tears. Annabeth tries to smile, tells him to keep being himself before learning forward to give him one of her hugs, burying her face into his shoulder.

When they leave, Percy doesn't see the tears that finally fall from Annabeth's eyes and into her lap, doesn't hear her quiet sobs as she zooms away from him, but he does feel the sadness that's consuming her heart.

He's experiencing exactly the same thing.


	2. when we go crashing down we come back every time

Percy wakes up to the smell of pancakes. He's out of bed and dressed in 30 seconds, barrelling out his bedroom door and down the stairs into the kitchen. Its Special Sunday, which is basically the last Sunday of the month where his mother makes an amazing breakfast to celebrate the end of the month.

" You're up bright and early today." she says, grinning as he sits down at the large kitchen table and sliding a plate of pancakes in front of him. They're blue, and Percy smiles, picking up the syrup and lathering it over his pancakes. It's been 10 years, and he still likes to drown his pancakes in syrup before even attempting to eat them.

He finishes his pancakes in 5 minutes flat and goes for seconds, hip-checking his Mom at the counter and asking her to sit down for a plate too. They talk about the week, laughing when Percy goes to take a bite of his pancakes and they fall off his fork and back into the puddle of syrup that has collected on his plate.

Percy usually spends the rest of his day trying to complete his weekend homework, having left it to last minute as usual. He tried to do it, he swears. Having ADHD is such a hassle because whenever he sits down and attempts to write an essay on the language conventions in Huckleberry Finn, he usually just ends up clicking on an ad and spending the next 2 hours browsing sites that are trying to sell all sorts of weird things like swimming pool paint and large rubber chickens.

Today however, his attempt to finish his homework is interrupted by the doorbell. His Mom is working on her book in her office, and Percy usually takes care of everything on Sundays. He saves the paragraph he's written and hops down the stairs, calling out a "Coming!" as he does so. He wonders if it’s the mailman, they ordered a new microwave a few weeks ago because the current one had a dent in it.

Percy opens the door, smile evident on his face. He's met by Annabeth Chase, the girl he last saw 10 years ago, hand still raised and positioned on the doorbell.

* * *

 

Annabeth looks up at Percy, and it takes a while for her to gather her wits. She used to be taller than him, but now he's got a good 4 inches on her. His shoulders are broader, and he's filled out, but Percy still has the same dark, messy hair, and his eyes are as green as she remembers. " Hi " she says, wondering if he's forgotten her 10 years is a long time after all, long enough to forget the girl that was once your best friend.

There's a pause, then she's in Percy's arms and he's hugging her so tightly that it seems like he's never letting her go again. She hugs him back, burying her face in his shoulder. Percy still smells like the ocean breeze, and it brings back so many memories that Annabeth has to squeeze her eyes shut and will herself not to cry.

Percy finally pulls back and he's staring at her with so much intensity that Annabeth has to force herself not to look away. " Why didn't you tell me you were coming home? " he asks. _Home_ , she thinks, and somehow Percy's right, even though she's spent the last 10 years in the city, this farm will always be home.

" I wanted it to be a surprise. " she replies, arms hanging limply at her sides now that they aren't wrapped around Percy. " My dad's 10 year research contract just finished last week, and he wanted to come back to continue the whole thing." she explains, the past 10 years have been a shocking whirlwind of change and difference, and Annabeth is happy that they're finally back in the farm that she grew up in.

" Well you surprised me that's for sure." Percy laughs, and once again Annabeth is pulled into memories of sitting with 7 year old Percy in the middle of his bedroom floor. " Oh yeah come on in my Mom's gonna be so happy to see you!" he continues, hopping from foot to foot and grinning widely while stepping back and pulling the door open wider so Annabeth can step in.

The house looks exactly the same as Annabeth remembers. The couch is still in the middle of the TV room, the multi-coloured coffee table standing in front of it. Sally had gotten it from a garage sale, it was a brilliant find. Someone had made a table out of a church window, and one those days that the sun shone in through the window, the coffee table was illuminated like a rainbow. Annabeth and Percy used to lie underneath and let the glow hit their faces as they swapped daydreams about the future.

Percy bounces off to get his mother after giving her another tight hug, leaving Annabeth to stand alone in the room, thinking if they'll ever be the same as they were 10 years ago.

* * *

 

Sally, as expected, is delighted to see Annabeth. She hugs her, albeit not as tight as her son did. Percy's standing off to the side, smiling widely. Annabeth is just as pretty as he remembers. Her blonde hair is still in princess curls, and her grey eyes are still that stormy shade of grey that makes you feel as if she can see right through your soul.

He can't believe she's back, he remembers when they were seven, running around the forest that surrounded the area. He's never forgotten Annabeth, he promised that he wouldn't, and it seems like she hasn't forgotten him either.

Percy asks if she's staying for lunch. " You've got to! Mom's making spaghetti!" he exclaims, and she laughs, telling him that she'll stay. Her father is probably already in his office, setting things up, she says, and the moving truck isn’t arriving till a week later.

" Can I bring some back for Dad? He's probably going to forget to eat again." Annabeth asks, eyebrows furrowed. Fredrick hasn't changed much either then, Percy thinks. His mother smiles and says of course she can bring some back for her father, she cooks too much anyway.

Percy brings Annabeth around the back of his house and sits down by the side of the lake. He can almost see 7 year old him splashing around in the shallows while Annabeth sits further up the shore doing her homework. She normally ends up finishing her work long before the sky gets dark and then dragging Percy out of the water so she can help him finish his.

This time they both settle down further up the shore, Percy patting down a patch of grass for Annabeth before she sits down. He didn't think he'd ever see her again, sure the contract was only for 10 years but Percy didn't know that they planned to come back to live on the farm.

"How are you?" he asks tentatively, not sure as to whether she would want to answer his questions. He looks at her from under his hair, which is growing too long yet again.

"I'm doing fine, left a good friend or two behind in New York but it's nothing we can't handle. I have her Skype and everything." Annabeth says, leaning back and staring at the sky. "How about you? How have you been?"

How has he been? No better no worse, spent the past 10 years of his life missing her terribly but she didn't need to know that. "Same as always, nothing much changes on the farm." he says, blowing out a breath of warm air. "Mom finished writing a book and sent it out to her agent, hopefully it'll get published. She deserves that much." he continues. His mom works so hard, and if Percy could force them to publish her book he probably would.

Annabeth nods, looking like she's remembering something. They sit in silence for a while, listening to the call of the birds as they flit from tree to tree. Listening to their own even breathing. Percy didn't really like silences, it made his ADHD mind extremely bored, after about 5 minutes he blurts out, "I really missed you." and then he wants to smack himself on the head.

Annabeth laughs though, and the sound of it is enough to make Percy smile again. Her laughter sounds like sunshine on a cold day, it sounds like what hope feels like. Then she's turning to him, grey eyes alight with amusement and just a little fondness. "I missed you too Seaweed Brain."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can find me on tumblr at fightiingdragons. chapter title from Style by Taylor Swift

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr at fightiingdragons. chapter title taken from the song Ours by Taylor Swift.


End file.
